The Zoo
by raccoonqueen
Summary: The Zoo...a cold and dark prison that held all the classic HB cartoon characters we know and hold so dear. But when a mysterious person shows up with her plan of salvation for her friends, a bright future is revealed. Rated T as a caution.
1. The Zoo

AUTHOR'S NOTE: This story, which is based on the video I just saw on YouTube, shows my reaction to what those dumb producers of Cartoon Network did to the old cartoons we grew up watching. Sure, it's a little dramatic and angsty at first, but there are some parts I added that are cheerful and has a few songs in it. Read this story and join me in the fight to bring back the classics.

DISCLAIMER: I do not own the Hanna-Barbera characters featured in the story.

* * *

_"The whole value of solitude depends upon one's self. It may be a santuary...or a prison. A haven of repose...or a place of punishment. As we ourselves make it."_

It was a day of great sorrow in the world of entertainment. Over the years, many people have asked the same question: "What has become of the good old cartoons that we have grown up with? Where are they now?" The answer to that long-debated question is ominous enough to bring tears to one's eyes--they are all in a dire and cold-hearted place known only as "the Zoo".

Cartoon Network, which has been for a time the place for classic cartoons, went downhill when it had new shows and programs. The shows were awful--nothing but anime and live-action shows that would make any classic cartoon fan vomit. And the old cartoon characters were unexpectedly put into the Zoo.

The Zoo was not like any of the cheerful zoos that you know in the human world. It had a desolate and eerie air around it, and its lanes and public places were almost entirely empty. Here and there Hanna-Barbera cartoon stars wandered around, living miserable lives as prisoners of the Zoo. Others were locked up in places one should never peek in, in cells similar to those of penetientaries. All of them were forced to suffer a wide variety of situations concerning their time in the Zoo--starvation, thirst, death, emotional disturbances, and worst of all...deprivation of contact with their long-lost fans.

Eddy, of "Ed, Edd, n' Eddy" fame, had never agreed to the decision to lock up the cartoon stars in the Zoo--after all, they're his friends. The one person who pushed him to found the prison in the first place was the most dreaded of all the cartoon villains...the Red Guy. Long ago, before this mess started, Eddy lived a happy life with his two pals, Ed and Double D. Every day, he found so many opportunities to scam any person he sees in the cul-de-sac. But never...never in his whole life had he expected to be scammed himself. One day, the Red Guy came to his house (disguised as an ordinary businessman) and told him that he won a hundred billion dollars. Oh, did Eddy want so much of that money! But the Red Guy added that in order to retrieve his prize, he must sign the contract for building a zoo.

"What zoo?" Eddy asked, puzzled.

"You'll see what I mean," replied the Red Guy with a mischevious grin.

"So, what does it cost to get me the moolah _and_ the zoo?"

"How about...your SOUL? You wouldn't sell your soul for a hundred billion dollars, WOULD YOU?"

Eddy was appalled at the idea for selling his soul in order to build the zoo. But then, the money offer tempted him and he had no choice but to accept the terms of the contract.

So, the contract was signed and the zoo was built. When Eddy showed it to his friends, they believed that it was going to be for real live animals. What they didn't realize is that the zoo was meant to hold a different kind of group of animals...cartoon animals. Once he saw all of his old innocent classic cartoon colleagues being caught and imprisoned, Eddy knew he made a mistake. The Red Guy had tricked him!

"Hey!" shouted Eddy angrily. "What's the big idea of locking my pals up in the zoo?!"

"Tut, tut," answered the Red Guy. "Not so fast, Mr. Eddy Boy. From now on, you're the BOSS of the zoo and there's absolutely NOTHING you can do about getting out of the contract!"

"But the hundred billion dollars..."

"Ah, yes, the prize. Well, guess what? The so-called 'prize' are the proceeds that will go to the ZOO! And your soul is now MINE! ALL MINE"

And there it was...the Zoo...with all of its poor cartoon prisoners...with no hope of getting out. And it was torture for two of his best pals from the cul-de-sac, Ed as one of the extra prisoners and Edd left to manage the finances of the Zoo. Bound by the contract, Eddy longed to talk to the Red Guy about closing the place and setting his friends free. But he feared that if he cancelled the contract, he'd lose his chance of getting the hundred billion dollars. After a while, he had seen the prisoners suffer and he had seen the Red Guy gloat over his victory. And so he did the one simple action he was sure to regret--commit suicide. He couldn't stand to watch his pals mourn their lost freedom.

Standing on the top of his swivel chair, the noose around his neck, Eddy prepared to take what was to be his last breath. He paused--what if his friends found out about his death? He just wanted to stop what he was doing and force the Red Guy to tear up the very contract that cost him his lifestyle and his friendship. But it was too late. The Red Guy kicked the chair out of the way...and Eddy was gone, along with his soul.

Now the Red Guy was entirely in charge of the Zoo. He treated the cartoon prisoners like dirt and left them without food, water, and comfort. He was indeed the cruelest villain of all, and it was hopeless. The one thing the cartoon characters desperately needed to escape from the Zoo was a miracle. They needed someone who would find a way to get rid of the zoo and give them the freedom they've always longed for. Someone who would offer them nourishment, companionship, and courage. Someone who would expose the Red Guy's nasty deed and put him away for good. Someone...who is a fan of classic cartoons himself or herself. That's where we come in...


	2. Tourists

Okay, here's the next chapter. Hope you guys like it.

DISCLAIMER: The character Erin belongs to my friend, coopergal24 of DeviantArt. Jenny belongs to me. The rest of the characters belong to Hanna-Barbera.

* * *

One fine day, two young girls walked down the street. One girl was named Jenny, and the name of her friend was Erin. Along the way, they happened to notice a sign above that said "Zoo". Underneath it was the path, which led straight down, littered with trash cans and picket fences.

"A zoo?" said Jenny. "I'm not sure if I've been to this place before."

"Me, too," said Erin. "But at least it wouldn't hurt to check it out."

They walked down the path, until they reached what looked to them like a toll booth...with Ranger John Smith in it. He said monotonously (and tiredly), "Welcome to the Zoo. $50 bucks to enter." Jenny and Erin reached into their pockets. Nothing. Jenny said, "Sorry, sir, but we're broke."

"Well, whatever you say," replied Ranger Smith, nonchalantly.

Erin noticed something familiar about him. She said, "Wait a minute...you're Ranger Smith, of Jellystone Park?"

"I was, once," said Ranger Smith. "But then, things changed. Now I sell tickets to this wretched hellhole known as 'the Zoo'."

"That's what we wanted to know. And where's Yogi and Boo-Boo? And Cindy?"

"Oh...they're in there. Sadly enough, Yogi hasn't been the same since he wasn't allowed to eat even a bite."

Suddenly, a voice from the intercom said, "Hellooooo? I don't hear any sweet sounds of TICKET-SELLING HERE!"

Startled out of his wits, Ranger Smith quickly replied, "Yes, sir! Getting to that, sir!" He got out two tickets, handed them out to the girls, and said with a nervous smile, "You have a good time!"

Erin and Jenny shrugged their shoulders and went on their way. They passed So-So, the little orange monkey whom they had recognized as Peter Potamus' sidekick. An old box...they couldn't guess what was in it. And signs that pointed in every direction, spelling out words and messages such as "Welcome to Hell" and "W.C.".

They entered the zoo and they looked around. In dirty cells, surrounded by nothing but old posters, cobwebs, and flea-infested rats, were the cartoon stars themselves. Yippie and Yahooey, minus Yappee--as evidenced in the skull with the familiar floppy black ears. Loopy De Loop, standing next to a cardboard sign that said "WE ARE NOT ANIMALS"." And Yogi Bear...and Snagglepuss...and Peter Potamus (so that's where he's been!). Having looked at all the cartoon stars locked up in the cells, the hearts of Erin and Jenny immediately began to break.

"Awful!" muttered Jenny, looking at what remained of Touche Turtle and Dum-Dum. "Just plain awful! Whoever came up with this contraption should be reported to the authorities. They'd shut this place down for good."

"I'm with you," replied Erin.

Just then, another person showed up. He had red skin, a pot belly, pointy devilish horns, and a tail (with an arrow-shaped tip) sticking out of his behind. And he was wearing a zookeeper's uniform. It was the Red Guy.

"Well, hello!" he said smugly, looking at the two girls. "Welcome to the Zoo, the HAPPIEST place on earth! It's me, Red, and I'm going to be your tour guide for the day!"

"That's fine enough," said Jenny. "But still, we've got one question to ask you."

"And what is it? Is it a question about the zoo itself? I'd be MORE than happy to answer!"

"Yes, it's a question about this zoo."

"And it is...?"

"Just why did you have all of those famous Hanna-Barbera stars locked up in those cells, just to be shown off to the public?"

The Red Guy looked around. Then he said, "Ooh, that's pretty simple. Those stars, those classy, good-looking, gorgeous young stars, are just the BY-PRODUCTS of ENTERTAINMENT! And that's why they are all here, waiting to tend to the whims of any tourist that comes their way--especially YOU!"

"True," said Erin. "We are tourists. But we're not the kind of tourists you'd know from your perspective. We are cartoon fans, the ones who care more about kindness to toons than cruelty to them. The cruelty that you've exposed the stars to is way too much to bear--that could be the reason why nobody, not even the children, comes to this place. Just what kind of guy are you to do such a thing?"

"What kind of guy am I? The ZOOKEEPER, of course!"

"No! We don't want to speak to you! We want to speak with whoever is in charge of this place!"

"Who's in charge? Well...I AM!"

With that, he grabbed the two girls by the collars of their shirts. Erin and Jenny screamed. The Red Guy continued, "Here's another reason why I wanted to ESTABLISH this zoo. First of all, the new cartoon stars of the network HIRED me to get rid of the old cartoon stars of yesteryear. And secondly, it was ALL FOR THE MONEY! AND POWER!"

"I knew we should've never bought those tickets in the first place!" Jenny said to Erin.

The Red Guy gave the girls a menancing smile. He said, "And now, since you are the only two people who dared to DESPISE the way I run this place, you are declared to be my two NEW exhibits of the zoo! How would you like to be behind the bars, entertaining dozens of happy little children who visit this PRECIOUS LITTLE ZOO?"

"You wouldn't dare!"

"So, do you agree or NOT?"

"We'd rather be dead than become the laughingstock of the entire community!"

"Well, if it is your decision..."

He got out two new zookeeper uniforms and shoved them onto the girls. He continued, "Then you'll be forced to WORK FOR ME!"

Erin and Jenny looked at their new clothes in dismay. "_At least, we're not thrown into any one of those nasty cells_," Erin thought.

"Your new job," the Red Guy said. "Involves the care of all of these exhibits. So, let me carefully state three important rules to get you started. Rule #1: NO FEEDING! Food makes the exhibits more likely to get SO fat, that they'll be the death of my money-making industry. And DON'T give them any water, either. Rule#2: NO TALKING! If you as much as utter one single word to the cartoon animals, it will make them want to REBEL against me and leave my poor little zoo. Silence _is_ golden, you know. And finally, Rule#3: Whatever you do, DON'T EVER LET THEM ESCAPE! Just keep an active eye on all of the exhibits, and put a stop to WHATEVER suspicious breakout-related activities they might be plotting. GOT IT?"

"Yes, sir," Erin and Jenny sighed.

"Good! I shall expect brilliant results by tomorrow. So...GET TO WORK!"

The girls quickly grabbed two brooms and started sweeping the place. Satisfied, the Red Guy smiled and walked away. But there was one thing about the girls that he had overlooked--it was Jenny's heartwarming spirit and cheerful personality that would very soon set the cartoon stars free and inspire them to turn against him.


	3. Poor Old Huck

Here's the third chapter. Kudos to coopergal24 for giving me a hand in helping me write this one--I give her all the credit for every single word she typed.

DISCLAIMER: The character Erin belongs to my friend, coopergal24 of DeviantArt. Jenny belongs to me. The rest of the characters belong to Hanna-Barbera.

* * *

It felt like forever since both Erin and Jen went to the "Zoo", saw the horrible truth about their beloved cartoon animal stars and forced to work for The Red Guy. It was awful! Sweeping and doing janitorial duties while they took glances and peeks at the toons, suffering behind the bars of the cage. It just broke their hearts every time they saw it.

Erin went inside one of the buildings to do some clean up one time and saw a passed out Hong Kong Phooey in one of the filing cabinets, either sleeping from sadness or passed out from either hunger or exhaustion, his friend Spot the Cat was sitting at the top of the cabinet like always, with a sad frown. She had been hearing the cries, suffered groans or sobs of pain and hurt echo through her ears. She couldn't take it!

But the one part that broke the camel's back was when she was doing mopping duties. Erin was mopping in the enteraining stage area, she mopped a mess that was close to a cage. She looked up upon seeing a glint of light blue, her eyes widened in horror at the tragic sight! Her hero and favorite character, Huckleberry Hound, laid on the floor, looking as if he was already prepared to die. His once shiny light blue fur was now a dull from it's once glistening fur, his trademark bowtie was somewhat tattered and torn a bit in places and there was a look of sadness and defeat all over his face.

Erin dropped the mop as she fell to her knees, gripping the bars tight as she bowed her head, crying softly. She spoke so hopefully that only Huck would hear. "Huck...Can you hear me...? I know it's hopeless and that there's no escape from this God forsaken nightmare...But you CAN'T give up...! You and all of your friends are still loved by all the fans around the world...Like Jen...And me...We're all of your biggest fans...I'M you BIGGEST fan, Huck.....I looked up to you because you gave me the courage and strength to be myself...To believe in myself...And to do the impossible, like fighting for your dreams...Huck...I love you...Always have, always will....Me and Jen WILL find a way to help you and everyone else escape...Bring that Red Guy to justice...And hopefully bring all of your other friends back to life and bring happiness to you guys once again... I PROMISE as a fan...And a friend...! So please...Hang in there, and DON'T give up hope...!"

Erin stood back up, picked up the mop and blew Huck a kiss before she walked away. She wiped her eyes dry, hoping that her hero somehow heard her.


	4. An Encounter In The Air Vent

And now, the fourth part of the story.

DISCLAIMER: The character Erin belongs to my friend, coopergal24 of DeviantArt. Jenny belongs to me. The rest of the characters belong to Hanna-Barbera.

* * *

Jenny, usually a claustrophobic kind of person, had the toughest job of dusting the air vents. She was to make sure that the air vents in every single building of the Zoo were completely spotless...or else she'd face the consequences. She was working her way up in cleaning the air vent above Double D's office when, upon looking up, saw Super Snooper and Blabber Mouse. They didn't look like the same cheerful type of a detective duo that she was used to seeing on TV--both of their white trench coats were dirty. And they looked thin, wasted, and very sad.

Jenny crawled up to have a closer look at them. Snooper and Blabber looked up, saw her, and quickly backed away. She whispered, "Hey...Snoop, Blab..." They looked at her in surprise--they had never seen that person before. Jenny continued, "It's me...I'm Jenny, your #1 fan...I won't hurt you."

"How do we know?" answered Snooper. His voice sounded hoarse and quiet. "You're one of the Red Guy's new people. If you abuse us any further, I swear I'm going to--"

"But Snooper, please! I will not hurt you or abuse you in any kind of way. Here, I'll prove it to you..."

She tried to reach her hand out to touch him, but he flinched. She waited several seconds before trying to reach out to him again--she put her hand on his cheek. This time, Snooper permitted the approach. Jenny whispered, "See? I won't hurt you."

She turned to Blabber and patted his head. Now that they've seen this gesture as a sign that Jenny was not one of the Red Guy's zookeepers, they were able to trust her even more. Blabber said, "So, you're not mean after all."

"Of course not," replied Jenny. "I'm more of a gentle kind of person rather than a rough one. However, it's so depressing watching you guys spend the rest of your lives in this awful place."

"It's true."

"I know. But anyway, just how did you and your friends end up in here?"

Snooper sighed. He said, "It's a long story. You see...it all started back when Cartoon Network wanted to give all the classic cartoon stars a chance to make a comeback--I was one of them. Being the star of a series of shorts that were part of the Quick Draw McGraw show, Blab and I had a desire to have a show of our very own. 'The Snooper & Blabber Show', we called it. It was a ton of fun in the old days...we used to hang out with our friends a lot. And the villains from the other shows, who were percieved by viewers as the 'baddies'--well, they were actually our friends in real life."

"Most of the time we were on TV a lot just to entertain the human folks. But whenever we go off-the-air...we'd go crazy! Our break times were much more fun than our work times. We had pool parties, barbeque parties, video game parties, whatever party we wanted to throw. We celebrated each other's birthdays with flair. And the pranks! We loved pulling pranks on each other and on our friends. Crank calls, putting a bucket of cold water on the top of an unsuspecting neighbor's front door, the fake spiders and rubber rats...man, we were nuts while we did those funny jokes. Oh, the memories..."

He sighed happily at the recollection of the past, before he continued sadly, "Yes, we were living the good life...until those new toons came along. One was Chowder, the other was Flapjack, the cast from Total Drama Island--also known as TDI--and a whole host of anime and live-action losers. And Adult Swim--ugh! It took the fun right out of late-night TV. I don't know how they got to Cartoon Network, but they were there for only one reason--to boot us off in order to take our places. And so, we were forced to move to Boomerang--it was a TV station dedicated to viewing classic cartoons, and it wasn't that bad. So we resumed our everyday lives as usual. Then, the death blow came--the new cartoon stars who took over Cartoon Network now wanted to take over Boomerang. Their plan was to get rid of us. And do you know who they hired to accomplish that feat? You guessed it--the Red Guy. He was one of those villains from 'Cow & Chicken', from our old-school Cartoon Network days. He used to be our favorite pal, but when the new cartoon stars told him that they'd give him a hundred billion dollars for putting the old toon stars away for good, he turned against us. First, he scammed Eddy, the Zoo's old boss, and then...here we were, trapped in individual cells, with no sanitation, no food, no water...and no hope."

After hearing Snooper's story, Jenny felt herself crumbling up inside. "_Those poor toons_!" she thought. "_They've had their freedom, but it got taken away so soon. Once I get the chance to go up to the Cartoon Network studios, I'll give those so-called 'new' cartoon stars a piece of my mind_..." She asked, "Whatever happened to the old boss of the zoo?"

"He hanged himself," replied Blabber. "He couldn't stand to watch all of us suffer like this. And now the Red Guy is in charge of the whole place."

"I know--he told me and Erin about that when he met up with us. He's one cruel dude, all right."

"Yeah! Wait until I get to him. I'll give him a left and a right, an uppercut, and a--"

Snooper grabbed Blabber by the collar of his trench coat. He said, "Get a hold of yourself, Blab. If you had the nerve to beat up our boss, he'd lock you up faster than you can say 'Jack Robinson'. Or even worse..."

Jenny laughed. She knew that underneath their starved, dirt-stained souls, they were still the same old cat-and-mouse detective duo that she had been admiring all these years. She hugged them and said, "It's good to have you guys back."

"You're much obliged, Jenny," replied Snooper. Just then, he heard his stomach growl. He continued, "Pardon me, but won't you mind feeding us a couple of morsels of some food? We haven't had a bite since the opening of the Zoo."

Jenny nodded and said with a smile, "Why, yes, Snoop! I will. As a matter of fact, I'm a little hungry, too. Let's see if we can find the nearest cafeteria around here..."

Slowly and carefully, they crawled out of the air vent, appearing behind the building. Then Jenny beckoned Snooper and Blabber to follow her in a pursuit for the cafeteria. Suddenly, a familiar voice shouted, "JENNY!"

It was the Red Guy...again. She looked over her shoulder and whispered to her friends, "Snoop! Blab! Find somewhere to hide!" Luckily for them, there were a couple of trash cans near the building--Snooper and Blabber managed to jump into them before the Red Guy showed up.

"So, Jenny," said the Red Guy in a smug voice. "Have you finished cleaning the air vents?"

Jenny looked up at the building, before turning back to the Red Guy and replying meekly, "Yes, sir."

"Oh, goody! You've done a GREAT job! Here's a little gold star for your efforts!"

He took out a small golden star-shaped sticker and pinned it on her vest. He continued, "Now, for your next job, you will have to SWEEP all the floors of the cafeteria! And, if by the time I check back on you that I find the floors not so sparkly clean that I can't see my handsome face in it, YOU'RE HISTORY!"

Jenny flinched, before saying, "Thank you, sir. But can I ask you one more thing before you go?"

"Yes?"

"Where is the cafeteria?"

"Oh, that's pretty easy--you just take a walk to a building NEXT to the Entertainment Center. You won't miss it."

Jenny nodded. As soon as the Red Guy had left, she turned around and said, "Okay, you guys, you can come out. The coast is clear." Snooper and Blabber crawled out of the trash cans. Snooper said, "Did he mention the location of the cafeteria?"

"Yes," replied Jenny. "It's in that building next to the Entertainment Center. Wait a minute, that's where Erin is! I'll bring you guys to meet her before we get something to eat."

They went to the Entertainment Center, where they found Erin mopping next to the cage Huck was confined in. Snooper looked him over, and shook his head sadly. He said, "Poor old Huck...I guess he'll never live to see another day."

"Yes, I know," said Erin, sobbing. "But...I just wish he was alive so I could see him again...he was my favorite Hanna-Barbera character, after all..."

Jenny looked around and saw an untouched glass of water on one of the tables. She grabbed it and went over to the cage. With the glass in her hand, she tried reaching out so far enough to reach Huck. But he was lying a few feet away from her. Jenny muttered, "I can't reach him. Let's see if I can try getting inside..." She attempted to open the door of the cage. It was locked. Jenny sighed again. She said, "It's hopeless. If I can't find a way to get into the cage somehow, Huck will die of thirst. And Erin will lose her hero. And we will lose our hope of ever getting out of this place again..."

With that, she put her face in her hands and began to cry. Erin, hearing her friend's sobs, went over to comfort her. There was indeed no hope...but at least they got each other. Then, something strange happened. The bars around the cage began to glow a bright golden color and they immediately began to melt until they were nothing but molten globs of metal. And they heard a gentle male voice, so calm and so quiet: "Here you go, Jenny..."

Erin looked at the cage, which was now completely open. She was shocked. "What...was...THAT?!"

"I don't know," replied Jenny. "I've never seen that happen before. But at least the cage's finally open. Now let's see if we can wake Huck up."

She went over to Huck's body, bent down, and splashed some water on him. In an instant, he coughed and spluttered, and slowly opened his eyes to see Erin and Jenny standing over him. Jenny asked, "Huck? Are you all right?"

"Where am I?" muttered Huck. "What am I doing in here?"

"Um...you passed out while trying to make a hundred of people in this theater laugh?"

"Oh...so that's what I was probably doing."

Erin ran over to him and gave him a big hug. Happy tears were falling from her eyes as she said, "Oh, Huck! You're still alive!"

"Of course, I am--why do you think I'd be dead when I'm really exhausted? And plus, I'm hungry, too."

"No problem, Huck," said Jenny. She turned to Erin and said, "I've got Snooper and Blabber free--they're the first two toons I rescued. And then there's Huck. We've got a long way to go before we set the rest of the cartoon characters free, and then we can band together and put an end to the Red Guy's reign of terror."

"That's right," replied Erin. "Still, I'm a little puzzled about the instant melting of the cage bars. And that voice, that mysterious voice...where do you think it came from?"

Jenny froze. Even though she knew the mysterious male voice from somewhere, she had never revealed its source to anyone...not even her best friend. She said, "Well, uh, it's probably...um, I don't know. I mean, I know the voice, but I forgot where it came from. Anyway, let's go and feed our pals here. The cafeteria's next door to the entertaining area, and we can sneak in there and manage to get some food to them...but only if the Red Guy's not around watching us. We can discuss our plan there."


	5. A Plan In Action

Here's Chapter 5. That's where our heroes make a plan to escape this horrific zoo.

DISCLAIMER: The character Erin belongs to my friend, coopergal24 of DeviantArt. Jenny belongs to me. The rest of the characters belong to Hanna-Barbera.

* * *

Erin, Jen, Huck, Snooper and Blabber carefully snuck out from the Entertainment room building to the Cafeteria, and all of them went into the kitchen and found some food for the boys. As Huck, Snooper and Blabber ate, both girls began to think.

"Guys, we HAVE to get all of you out of here. If any of you stayed any longer, you'll more than likely die!" Erin said.

Huck looked up at her as he swallowed his sandwich. "We know, but no matter how many times we tried to escape, that there Red Guy always finds a way to catch us. Naturally, all of us continued to try and escape until...we just sorta...gave up."

Snooper and Blabber nodded in agreement. "Not even our super sleuthin' minds can get us out of here." Snooper replied.

"Oh, Snooper..." Jen said. "You guys can't give up. What about all the other fans of yours?"

"Yeah, Huck. You can't give up on them. There are STILL fans like me and Jen out there. They may not remember now, but I bet they'll remember when they see you guys again..."

The toons looked up. "Ya really think so, Erin?" Huck asked.

"I KNOW so, Huck." she answered.

The trio of guys smiled as they finished eating their food. "So now what? How will we get our friends out?" Blabber asked.

Both girls thought for a moment. Erin snapped her fingers at an idea. "I've got it. Jen, you, Snooper and Blabber find Yogi, Cindy and BooBoo and any others after you find Ranger Smith, tell him we're breaking out of the Zoo. Me and Huck will find Hong Kong Phooey, Doggie and Augie, and free the others hopefully. We'll tell the toons to hide in the Gift Shop Emporium--it's probably the ONLY safe haven where Mr. Pantless can't find us. If there are any security cameras there, take a picture of the area surrounding the shop and tape it in front of the camera. Worked in the movies."

Jen nodded. "Sounds like a great idea, Erin. We'll see you there."

"You know, you two girls ARE our fans if your risking your necks to save us old toons." Snooper said.

"We're mighty thankful for what you're doing, and we're indebted to both of ya." Huck said, taking Erin's hand in his paw and gently squeezing it. Erin blushed with a soft smile. "Hey, we can't just sit here and do nothing while our heroes suffer." Erin replied.

So while Snooper and Blabber hid in the kitchen quietly while Jen cleaned the cafeteria, Erin and Huck snuck back to the building. They were carrying a bag of food and water as they went inside the building. Erin led Huck over to the File Room where she saw Spot and Hong Kong the first time.

When they got there, Erin noticed the door to the room was closed and bolted. She paled a bit as she started to try and open the door, ramming her body against it and banging on it. "Oh no! The door's LOCKED!" She exclaimed." Huck checked it out. "And with the tightest security from the looks of it. We'll need to be experts at picking locks or somethin' if we're ever going to get in."

Erin grew tired as her banging and pounding against the door made her tired. She stopped and fell to her knees with her head bowed. "We have to get in there and help them...I just wish I knew how..." Erin replied sadly.

Huck put his paw on her shoulder. Suddenly, the door started to glow softly as the locks suddenly broke off into pieces while the door disintergrated into nothing but a pile of sawdust. Another familiar, but gentle man's voice was heard. "There you go, Erin..."

Erin and Huck both looked up in shock at the doorless door. "D-did you hear that, Huck?" She asked. "If ya mean a man's voice, I sure did." Huck answered. They got up and went into the File Room and over to the file cabinet where Hong Kong Phooey was in. Spot saw them and hopped of the cabinet, landing next to them as Erin gently took Hong Kong out and laid him down. Poor guy looked the same, but looked a bit older while his kimono and fur were a bit messed up.

While Huck gave Spot some food and water, Erin took a bottle of water from the bag and splashed some on the hero's face. Hong Kong sat up, sputtering before he suddenly got into his stance, doing a few kung fu moves.

"EYAH! KAH! HEY! HAI!! And a Rinky Dinky Do, to YOU!" He said in his trademark heroic voice. He stopped and looked around te room before he sighed. "Oh...I guess this wasn't a dream. It's all real." Hong Kong sadly exclaimed.

"What isn't a dream?" Erin said. Hong Kong whirled, looking at Erin before he got into a fighting stance. "You stay right where you are! Don't come near me, or I'll have to unleash my mighty powers of kung fu on you!" He proclaimed.

"Hold on thar, Hong Kong! This here's Erin! She's a friend of mine. She and Jen are helping us escape from this nightmare!" Huck quickly answered. Hong Kong stared at Huck before he looked at Erin. She smiled softly at him, slowly holding a bottle of water out to him. "I want to help all of you out..." She said. The kung fu hero slowly dropped his arms, looking in her eyes as he relaxed, trusting her. He reached out, took the bottle of water and started to drink, taking greatful gulps of water.

"Thank you so very much, Miss. I haven't had a decent drink since all of us were thrown in this here place!" Hong Kong exclaimed as he wiped his mouth with the back of his paw. "What happened here anyways? Aren't you toons supposed to be...free? And why's Red Guy here?" Huck and Spot sighed. "It's a long story, Erin. But we think you should know the truth." Huck said. Spot nodded in agreement. "You guys can tell me on our way to Doggie and Augie's cage. I'm all ears." Erin said. Both dogs nodded. So off they went to the Cage Section of the Zoo.

As they went there, Huck and Hong Kong told Erin the same thing Snooper and Blabber told Jen. Like Jen, Erin was also HORRIFIED and ANGRY! "That's AWFUL!! I SWEAR when we get you guys out of here, me and Jen will PERSONALLY beat that Red Guy to a pulp!!" Both dogs and Spot cringed a bit, but nodded knowingly. "If you can, save me some of that pantless guy to beat up too!" Hong Kong replied. Erin and Huck chuckled as Spot snickered.

They finally reached the cage section, walking over to Doggie and Augie's cage. The foursome looked in, staring at the heartbreaking scene: Doggie Daddy was sitting on a stool with a paw over his face as his son, Augie, was covered in a blanket. And from the looks of it, the poor puppy caught some kind of flu or something. Erin teared up at the sight.

"This is awful! We have to help Augie!" Erin exclaimed. Huck nodded. "There's a First Aid type station not far from here. Red NEVER locks the doors, because some of us are in cages. SO it's ALWAYS unlocked." Huck said. "I volunteer to get the medicines, along with any other first aid stuff we might need." Hong Kong replied. I nodded. "Just be careful, alright?" Erin asked. He nodded and quietly ran to the First Aid Station with Spot behind him.

Erin turned and watched Doggie and Augie, sadness in her heart. Huck saw her sadness in her eyes, he frowned before he took her hand in his paw. "It'll be alright, just like I said before. Have faith. You and Jen gave us hope so far." Huck said. Erin looked at him tearfully and nodded. "I hope so, Huck."

She couldn't help but wonder how Jen, Snooper and Blabber was doing as Hong Kong and Spot came running back with a duffle bag full of first aid stuff like medicines.


	6. Jenny Does Her Duty

Here it is...Chapter 6.

DISCLAIMER: The character Erin belongs to my friend, coopergal24 of DeviantArt. Jenny belongs to me. The rest of the characters belong to Hanna-Barbera.

* * *

"You're breaking out of the Zoo?!" asked the stunned Ranger Smith, after Jenny, Snooper, and Blabber had told them the news.

"That's right," replied Jenny. "Erin, Huck, Snoop, Blab, and me. We're going to get all the toons out of those dirty cells and we're gonna get rid of the Red Guy _and_ the Zoo once and for all!"

"But what if he catches us--"

"Don't worry--he won't see it coming when we turn the tables on him."

Ranger Smith stared at them for what seemed like a minute. Then he smiled and said, "You know, I think you've got a pretty good sense of thinking around here. Of course, I'll join you."

Snooper smiled. "Then let's go set those toons free!"

Jenny, Ranger Smith, Snooper, and Blabber set out to free the toons from the Zoo. First, they found Yogi, Cindy, and Boo Boo. Jenny told them about her plan and sent them on their way to pass the word to the other toons. Then, she and Snooper freed Yippee and Yahooey, and Loopy De Loop.

"Thanks," said Yippee.

"Is there anything we can do to assist you in the breakout?" said Loopy.

"Sure, just one thing," answered Jenny. "Follow me."

She led her new friends to the restroom, where she found Secret Squirrel...selling drugs. Jenny frowned--just what kind of toon would do such a thing like that? She went over to him and told him that he can't go on selling illegal stuff any more, and that she has come to rescue him as well. Then she met up with three more prisoners--Morroco Mole, Muttley, and Ed. Muttley, the small mongrel famous for his trademark snicker, had been without his owner, as evidenced in spatters of blood all over the stall. And Ed...he was not his cheerful, dim-witted self.

Jenny gathered them together and told them about her plan to free the other toons. She said, "We'll send each of you on your way to free the rest of your friends. Morocco Mole, you and Secret Squirrel go free Peter Potamus and Snagglepuss. Muttley, you'll go and free Top Cat and his gang--and no, you _can't_ chase them. And Ed, go find Double D and tell him that we're going to shut this place down. And when you've got them, meet us at the Gift Shop Emporium. You'll be safe there."

She and her friends then left the restroom and went on their way to the road that leads to the Gift Shop Emporium. And sure enough, there were security cameras everywhere. Jenny said to Snooper, "You and the others stay put right behind those empty boxes. I'll go up there to take some pictures of the entire area around it, and I'll call you over when the coast's clear."

Jenny went up to the Gift Shop Emporium, while her friends hid. She looked up at the security cameras before looking at her watch. It was 12 at noon--the Red Guy is eating his lunch and that was one of those times when he doesn't check the TV screens. With that, she took out her digital camera and snapped pictures of the front, back, sides, and corners of the shop. She taped each photo to each of the security cameras, so the Red Guy wouldn't see what she and her friends are up to. Then, she whistled to call her friends over to hide inside the shop.

Once there, she got out her cell phone and dialed Erin's number. She said, "Hello. Erin? This is Jenny. Listen up--Snoop, Blab, and I met up with Ranger Smith, and we have freed almost all of the toons from their cells...well, not all of them, I guess. Have you and Huck found Hong Kong Phooey? And Augie and Doggie, too? If you have, then meet us at the Gift Shop Emporium."

She hung up, sat down next to an aisle full of stuffed toy animals, and waited for Erin, Huck, and the others to show up at the shop soon. Meanwhile, not far away, another young girl stumbled into the Zoo. She was unaware of what was going on in that place, but she would soon find out. The girl's name...was Amanda.


	7. Enter Amanda

And finally, after a long delay, here's Chapter 7.

DISCLAIMER: The characters Erin and Amanda belong to my friends, coopergal24 and DollGirl of DeviantArt. Jenny belongs to me. The rest of the characters belong to Hanna-Barbera.

* * *

Amanda, like Erin and Jen, saw the sign for "The Zoo" and decided to see for herself. After getting the ticket from Ranger Smith, (she was in shocked horror about the state he was in), she entered the zoo and looked around. Her heart NEARLY stopped when she saw something frighteningly horrible: Yogi, Cindy and BooBoo, all looking like they were beaten and hurt, were resting in an abandonded booth as they were making thier way to the Gift Emporium.

Amanda was HORRIFIED! Who would DO such a horrible act of cruelty to her favorite characters?! She pondered about that as she ran over to them. When Yogi saw her, he ushered Cindy and BooBoo to run for it, but Amanda stopped them, telling the bears that she was a tourist and not a worker.

"...Are you most certain, that you won't give us the curtain?" Yogi asked most unsure.

"I'm VERY sure, Yogi. I would NEVER hurt ANYBODY...Ever!" Amanda said pointedly.

"Well...Alright...We trust you." said Yogi.

She kneeled next to the bears.

"What are you three doing here anyways? Aren't you and Ranger Smith supposed to be at Jellystone Park?"

"We USED to, ma'am, but that was before RED GUY threw all of us in here." BooBoo exclaimed.

"Red Guy? As in the pantless man from the "Cow and Chicken" series? THAT Red Guy?!" Amanda asked in shock.

"Yes! He's a HORRIBLE man who's as greedy as a fat bellied hog in a slop buffet!" Cindy said a bit bitterly in her southern accent.

"But...WHY? Why did he throw all of you in here? And HOW exactly?" Amanda inquired.

Yogi sighed before he explained everything to Amanda, about how the guy tricked Eddy into signing a contract to have EVEY Hanna-Barbera animal toon star thrown into the horrible, horrendous, foul, deathly and God-forbidden place known as the Zoo, where they're forced to entertain for "tourists". With no hope of EVER leaving the place...Except to wait for death to claim them, or if anyone outside the Zoo was willing enough to do something about it.

Amanda stared at him in HORROR. How could some pantless devil do something so CRUEL and TWISTED to not just Yogi and his friends, but ALSO all the other toons.

"That's TERRIBLE! Don't you worry, Yogi. I'll help." Amanda said, determined.

"Well we sure could use all the help we can. Two other girls like you are helping us escape." Yogi said.

Amanda cocked her head in confusion. "What two other girls?"

"Well, we didn't catch their names, but they told all of us to head over to the Gift Emporium in the center of the Zoo, so we can all escape." BooBoo said.

"And then we can tell the police about this DREADFUL place and send that cruel devil to prison!" Said Cindy.

Amanda looked at them before she nodded. "Alright. Then I'll go with you if you don't mind. Someone has to make sure you get there safe and sound."

"Then let's make like a tree and LEAF for the emporium, Hey, hey, HEY!" Yogi exclaimed with some hope in his voice.

Amanda nodded before she got up and helped her new friends out. Together, they quickly made their way to where Erin, Jen and the other toons are at. She was unaware, of course, that her two human friends were there.


	8. The Great Escape

Here you go--this is Chapter 8. This is where things get very exciting...

DISCLAIMER: The characters Erin and Amanda belong to my friends, coopergal24 and DollGirl of DeviantArt. Jenny belongs to me. The rest of the characters belong to Hanna-Barbera.

* * *

Erin, Jenny, Amanda, and all of the toons were now gathered together inside the Gift Shop Emporium. Secret Squirrel and Morocco Mole had come back with Snagglepuss and Peter Potamus. Muttley returned with Top Cat and his gang. And Ed and Double D showed up.

"How can we ever thank you girls for getting us out of those fifthy cells?" said Benny, wiping a tear from his eyes. "We thought we'd never live to see our good old friends again!"

"You're welcome, Benny," replied Erin. "After all, you guys deserved to be free."

Ed said, "Is there anything else we can do to help us achieve the dream of getting rid of the Zoo?"

"We have a long way to go before your wish could come true," said Jenny. "We still have to rescue the rest of the toons. And this might be our big chance, 'cause the Red Guy's still on a lunch break. There are security cameras everywhere we go, but not in here--so, we're safe."

Amanda said, "That's right! Now, here's what we're going to do. Yogi, Cindy, and I are going to go find Quick Draw and Baba Looie."

"I'll find Squiddly," said Jenny.

"And Huck and I are going to find Shaggy and Scooby, wherever they are," added Erin. "All of the doors in the building are never locked--that way, it'll give us an opportunity to search every building in this zoo and free as many toons as possible..."

Unfortunately for them, their little moment of safety wouldn't last long. Not only there were security cameras on the outside, but there were also security cameras in the Gift Shop Emporium! The cameras scanned the entire shop in every angle. One of them was focused on the girls and their H-B toon pals in the toys section. It was 1:00 P.M.--lunch break was over. When the Red Guy got back to the TV screens, he looked up and saw that Erin, Jenny, and Amanda were hiding out in the Gift Shop Emporium. He became furious. He shouted, "HEY! WHAT ARE THOSE BUFFOONS DOING IN THERE?" And, noticing that the escaped toons were hiding in there as well, he added with a growl, "And those toons...THEY'VE ESCAPED! SECURITY!"

He slammed his hand on a huge red button. Soon, a loud alarm rang out all over the Zoo. Hearing the alarm, Boo Boo cried out, "Oh, no! It's the alarm. The Red Guy has caught us!"

"How do you know about that?" said Jenny. "We're still safe here in this gift shop."

"There are security cameras inside the shop rather than outside of it. That's how he found us."

Snagglepuss added, "And if he finds us, he's going to put us all back into the cages! Maybe kill us, even!"

As he said that, a group of steely robots with mean glowing red eyes stormed into the Gift Shop Emprium, followed by the Red Guy himself. He roared, "ROBOTS! Scour every aisle in this store and find those prisoners. Bring them back here to me--ALIVE!"

The robot troop separated each other, formed lines, and began searching the shop. Erin whispered, "Quick, everybody! Hide inside the aisle shelves and make like stuffed animals! Don't say a word!" And they did. The robots walked through the aisle where Erin, Jenny, Amanda, and their friends were. One of them stopped to inspect Spot, who did all he could to stay still. Then, one of the raggedy feathers on Yahooey's hat (Yahooey was sitting above Spot) began to fall on the cat's nose. Almost instantly, Spot began to sneeze. "Ah...ahh...ahh...ahhhhhhh-CHOO!"

"Target uncovered! Target uncovered!" the robot beeped. All at once, the robots marched to the aisle and surrounded the girls and their friends. The Red Guy came up and said smugly, "Well, if it isn't my favorite little workers, Erin and Jenny. Oh, boy, you two surely crack me up at the way you come up with such an extrordinary plan..."

"Our plan, Mr. Pantless," said Jenny furiously. "Is to free all of the toons that you've captured and shut this whole place down! You think you got a problem with that?"

The Red Guy just smiled and snapped his fingers. Two robots stepped forward and grabbed both girls by their throats. He said, "Of course, you do remember the rules that I've stated to the two of you back when you got your jobs as zookeepers. And you went so far as to break all three of them--feeding the toons, talking to them, and LETTING THEM ESCAPE!"

Erin gasped, "How--how did you know we--we fed the toons? You didn't see--see us in the cafeteria!"

The Red Guy answered, gesturing to Huck, Snooper, and Blabber, "I can tell that by their contentedly full bellies. Now, here you are, in the Gift Shop Emporium, supposedly hatching another plan to ESCAPE my zoo." Noticing Amanda, he continued, "And what's this? A new friend of yours?"

"Don't hurt me!" said Amanda. She gave the red devil an angry glare.

"That's right, don't hurt her," shouted Jenny, struggling to free herself. "Amanda's our friend, too! You can't harm her!"

"Or can I?" said the Red Guy. Smiling evilly, he took out a huge club from behind his back. He continued with an ominous tone, "Why do you think I would never want to hurt your friend? If I can't make all of you to be zookeepers, then I might as well turn you into one of my new star attractions of the Zoo! But first, I'm going to TEACH you to BE LIKE ONE!"

"You wouldn't dare!" shouted Erin.

"Oh, yes...yes, I would. And if you don't like it, then I will have those robots put the LIGHT out of your EYES!"

The other robots grabbed the toons and refrained them from escaping their grasp. The Red Guy walked over and said, "Drop the girls!" The robots obeyed the command. Erin and Jenny were dropped to the ground, and as they sat there panting for air they looked up at him. He looked down, with a wicked grin on his face. Then, he shouted, "SAY GOODBYE TO YOUR TOON FRIENDS, ERIN AND JENNY!"

He was about to strike them when a bright golden aura began surrounding the club, and lifted it out of his hands and up into the air above him. Surprised, he shouted, "HEY! What's going on in--" Before he could say anything else, the golden light used the club to hit the Red Guy all over. Soon, the bad guy was on the floor, bruised, battered, and completely knocked out. The same male voice called out from the aura, "Erin! Jenny! Get out of the emporium and take all of your friends with you!"

"Yeah, but who are you?" asked Erin.

"There's no time to explain--the robots are after you even as we speak! Go at once to the cafeteria, and find a door that leads straight to the basement--you'll be safe there. And I'll be there to reveal my identity."

Erin, Jenny, Amanda, and the toons quickly fled the Gift Shop Emporium, with the robots on their tail. En route to the building where the entertaining area and cafeteria were located, Doggie Daddy accidentally dropped his sick son Augie on the ground. Upon discovering his son's sudden absence, Doggie shouted, "My son! Erin, get him before the robots do!"

And sure enough, the robots were approaching poor Augie. Erin ran back, picked Augie off the ground, and dashed off before the robots could fire their laser guns at her. All of the friends reached the cafeteria and made their way to a door marked "Basement". They opened it and ran inside, before slamming it back shut. When the robots came in, they looked around, confused. One of them said, "Hey...where did they go?"

They huddled together in the dark and damp basement, safe and sound once more. Cindy whispered, "Whew! That was so close!"

"You can say that again," muttered Ranger Smith.

Then, a bright golden ball of light appeared. Erin said, "We're in the basement. Now can you tell us who you are?"

"Of course," said the voice.

"Then who are you? And what are you doing in the Zoo?"

"...I am the spirit of William Hanna, the cherished creator of all those beloved toons you've rescued from their doom."

Erin, Jenny, and Amanda stared in shock. Could it _really_ be him?!


	9. More Help On The Way

And here it is...Chapter 9.

DISCLAIMER: The characters Erin and Amanda belong to my friends, coopergal24 and DollGirl of DeviantArt. Jenny belongs to me. The rest of the characters belong to Hanna-Barbera.

* * *

The three girls stared in shock.

"Hey! Don't forget about me, Will!" Another male voice said, whose voice was also warm and friendly with a hint of humor.

Will's spirit chuckled. "Of course, how could I POSSIBLY forget about you, Joe?"

Another golden ball of light appeared before everyone. The balls glowed before they flashed, making everyone shield their eyes from the brightness. When the light died down, all of them uncovered their eyes. They now saw two familiar men of William Hanna and Joseph Barbera, both were wearing white suits and were about the ages of either mid twenties or thirties.

"Heh, don't be shocked, ladies, we're here to help." Joe said.

The girls and toons shook their shock away.

"Wh-what are you two doing here?" Erin asked.

"Like we said, we're here to help. We saw the cruelty that Red Guy did to the toons, and we've had enough to be HONEST!" Will said, a hint of anger in his voice.

"But how? And what do me, Erin and Jen all have to do with this?" Amanda asked.

"You three girls have something that any other person might forget all together: An innocent soul, an inner child that NEVER wants to grow up so to speak. You three NEVER forgot the toons that we both created, which is why you three are able to help out." Joe answered.

"And as for how you three can help, it'll be hard, but we know you three CAN do it. Find a way to send the Red Guy away, and all will be okay again. Those who lost their lives are at the hospital at the moment, they'll awaken the moment the pantless man is arrested or whatever. But you'll all will have help...Isn't that right, Hong Kong?" Will said.

Erin, Amanda and Jen and all the toons looked at said toon in shock as the kung fu canine chuckled with a small smirk.

"Sure do...See, I'm from a team known as Team Freedom, made up of Blue Falcon and DynoMutt, Dog Wonder. Part one of the plan was a success, even though I was beaten and whatnot..."

"And...What plan is that?" Jen inquired.

Hong Kong pulled out a round tracker with the Falcon symbol on it, still beeping, but in silence.

"Me and Blue Falcon put our heads together and made a tracking button, but it would be a silent one. See, one of us would PURPOSELY get captured while wearing one of these here do hickies. Once captured, we turn the button on...." Hong Kong exclaimed.

"...And the other team would trace the signal where ever one of you is dragged to! That's BRILLIANT, Hong Kong!!" Erin exclaimed happily.

Said hero grinned proudly.

"But how're we gonna take down that thar Red Guy? He's got himself a squad of robots, and the odds of beating both them AND him are ninety to one!" Huck asked.

The girls thought about it.

"Hey, I saw a kind of security station not far from here. I bet we can call for help there." Amanda said.

Joe nodded. "A very good idea. You should call the police, Sargent Flint and Officer Dibble are on the Missing Toon case at the moment and should be of GREAT help."

"I agree, but be careful, Red Guy MIGHT know what's going on and will probably have more of his robots out on patrol." Will said.

"So...how can we get to the station without being caught?" Amanda asked.

We thought about it....Until a sudden rumbling noise was heard! The room felt like an earthquake.

"What in tarnation?!?" Quick Draw shouted.

"Heavens to Groundshakers! It's an earthquake! A shift of tetonic plates, even!!" Snag replied.

Everyone except the spirits held for dear life. The sound of drilling can be heard as a drill was seen coming out of the basement wall. A familiar drill at that...

Hong Kong smirked. "Well, looks like the cavilary's arrived!"

The wall surrounding the drill cracked before crumbling to the ground in pieces, revealing a familiar grey canine, wearing a green costume. He smiled as his nose turned drill reverted back to his nose. He sat down and saluted with a goofy smile.

"DynoMutt, Dog Wonder reporting for duty, H.K.!" DynoMutt replied.

"About time, Dog Wonder, but where's Blue Falcon?" Hong Kong asked.

"B.F. is inside the Zoo, waiting for me to call him when I find ya." DynoMutt said.

Amanda looked at her favorite canine hero in green.

"DynoMutt, can you tell him that we're heading to the Security Station, to meet us there? I THINK I have an idea." Amanda asked.

DynoMutt looked at her and nodded.

"Sure can, little lady, just let me give B.F. a call from the Dyno Communication System." He replied.

He opened he chest plate and pressed one of the buttons, the compartment opened and an old fashioned telephone booth came out. Dog Wonder opened the door and went in, but he poked his head back out.

"Uh, anybody have a quarter?" DynoMutt asked.

Everyone SWEATDROPPED at both the phone and DynoMutt before Erin reached into her pants pocket and pulled out a quarter before giving it to him.

"Here you go." She said.

DynoMutt took it. "Thanks" he said and went back into the phonebooth, deposited the coin in the phone and called Blue Falcon. Everyone waited until he hung up and came right back out, the phonebooth went back into his chest compartment after turning back into a box.

"All set! B.F. will met us at the Security Station." DynoMutt said.

"Good, Erin, Amanda, Jen, all of you be careful now, the lives of your friends is in your hands," Will said.

"Along with the innocence of everyone," Joe said.

Huck, Quick Draw, Snooper and Yogi stepped forward.

"Hold on, if the girls are going there, and so will Yogi Bear." Yogi said.

"Anywhere Erin goes, I go, too." Huck said as he took Erin's hand, making her blush with a smile.

"Same goes for me with Jen." Snooper said as he stood by Jen.

"And I'm a going too!" Said Quick Draw.

Ranger Smith got up and stood by Amanda, taking her hand in his and making her blush too while he blushed a bit himself.

"I'm not going to let Amanda go alone either." he said.

Both spirits nodded. "And we'll be here with the toons. If any of you need help, call on one of us and we'll come and help in any way."

The group nodded. DynoMutt made his nose into a drill again before facing the opposite wall. "Just follow me, I'll drill an underground tunnel to the station, safer than walking around up there with all them robots and stuff." DynoMutt chuckled as he started drilling. Erin, Jen, Amanda, Huck, Ranger Smith, Hong Kong, Snooper, Yogi and Quick Draw all followed DynoMutt into the tunnel as the other toons plus two spirits watched.

In the girls' minds, they hoped that they CAN help their new friends, even if it meant their lives.


	10. The Red Guy's Latest Trick

Here's Chapter 10. 'Nuff said.

DISCLAIMER: The characters Erin and Amanda belong to my friends, coopergal24 and DollGirl of DeviantArt. Jenny belongs to me. The rest of the characters belong to Hanna-Barbera.

* * *

In a large square, all the robots gathered together for an emergency meeting. Red Guy stood up in front of them and exclaimed, "ROBOTS! Listen up...it is a day of reckoning for all of us, and of course, it involves the Zoo itself. You see, those three girls--Erin, Jen, and Amanda by name--freed almost half of my exhibitions. They had talked to them, fed them, and caused them to revolt against my ruling system. And, if they go so far as to free the rest of the toons and shut this entire place down, I'M DOOMED! DOOMED, I TELL YOU!" He added, with a mischevious grin, "But this time, they won't be getting away with inciting mutiny at my zoo..."

The robots, getting the hint at what he's thinking, snickered. Then, one of them asked, "What are you going to do, Boss?"

"I know exactly what to do, my friends," answered the Red Guy, smirking smugly. "We're going to need the asisstance of all the NEW cartoon stars of Cartoon Network who hired me to jail the old H-B toons in the FIRST place! With them in our army, those silly girls and their friends won't stand a chance!"

"Negative. Suppose the girls and their friends call up on their old friends, and build up an army with them to fight us. What will we do when that happens?"

"Don't worry, boys. I'll know exactly what to do..." Suddenly smiling and holding up a pair of suitcases, he continued cheerily, "I'll take a vacation!"

The robots all sweatdropped at his unexpected reply. The Red Guy continued, "But of course, I won't be taking a real vacation--I want the girls to actually _think_ I'm on a vacation! You guys just go back to your places, and I'll hide and wait for their return. They'll never know what hit them..."

And with that, he left to hide outside the Zoo, with the robots searching for places to hide in. Soon, the entire place was left without its cruel manager...a lucky change of fate for our favorite old toons. Or is it?

At the same time that the Red Guy left the Zoo, Erin, Jenny, Amanda, and their friends were down in the ground below. They followed Dyno-Mutt through an underground tunnel to the security station outside the premises. There, they met up with Blue Falcon, and Sargent Flint and Officer Dibble.

"Oh, boy, aren't we so glad to see you again, Dibble," said Top Cat, shaking the police officer's hand. "After all these years, you still look the same and better than ever."

"Same here, Top Cat," answered Officer Dibble. "But I have to make sure you're not up to any nasty tricks."

"I've changed! No conning, no scams, nothing! I'm a new cat!"

"Is that so?"

Jenny quickly stepped in and said, "Guys, there's no time for arguments. You have to team up together to help us fight back at the Red Guy, free all of the toons, and shut down that dirty old zoo!"

"And," added Erin. "We're gonna need a lot of other old Cartoon Network stars to join our group! And, uh, we're gonna need more policemen from your force, too."

Sargent Flint scratched his head. He said, "Are you sure that's gonna work?"

"You'll have to trust us," replied Snooper."Otherwise, we'd all be doomed to fail. And our pals will die if they don't have a chance to get out and enjoy their long-awaited freedom."

Sargent Flint and Officer Dibble thought for a moment. Then, Sargent Flint nodded and said, "Okay. We'll do it."

"I knew we could count on you," said Jenny with a smile.

Soon, Erin, Jenny, Amanda, and their friends returned to the Zoo with groups of policemen following them. But when they got to the manager's office to confront the Red Guy with an arrest warrant...he wasn't there. And there was a sign that said, "On vacation, will be back in 2 weeks". The naked crimson devil had flown the coop.

"That's odd," said Amanda. "He was here a while ago."

"And it looks like the robots are gone as well," said Huck, looking out the window.

Erin said, "He may be gone. But do you know what that means for all of us? It's our big chance to turn the tables on him--and I know only one way to do it..."

They went back to work freeing the rest of the toons that were still locked up in the zoo. Then they all gathered together in the same square that the Red Guy's robots had been long before.

"Toons!" shouted Erin through the megaphone. "We are gathered here today to tell you that the days of this infamous zoo are now numbered!"

The freed toons cheered. Erin continued, "With the Red Guy gone on a vacation and leaving the zoo in our care, we're going to give him the biggest surprise of his life. How? First, we'll gather all of our old friends from Cartoon Network's glory days, and bring them here to join us on the fight against Mr. Pantless. Then, we'll raze this place to the ground and have the Red Guy put away once and for all. And we'll all make sure that there will be no trace of any memories associated with the Zoo! No more rusty old bars! No more dirty cells! And best of all, NO MORE INJUSTICE!"

The toons cheered even louder. Erin, Jenny, and Amanda beamed proudly. Jenny shouted, "Well, what are you waiting for? LET THE REVOLT BEGIN!"

"REVOLUTION! REVOLUTION! REVOLUTION!" the toons chanted.

Unbeknownst to them, the Red Guy was behind one of the walls of the zoo, eavesdropping on the event. When he heard Erin mention something about enlisting some old friends in the army against the Zoo, he whispered, "So, they _are_ building up an army against me! They want a revolution? We'll see about that!" He took out his whistle and blew on it loudly.

The robots that had been hiding secretly in the zoo immediately came out and cornered the girls and the toons. The Red Guy strolled back in, a smug smile on his face. He said, "You girls really think I'm gone after all, huh?"

"You again!" said Jenny.

"Yes, it's me," he continued. "Your beloved manager. And just to make it simple, I'M TERRIBLY OUTRAGED! You came up with the biggest blow to my zoo's lustrous renown by letting the rest of my star attractions escape from their cells, and inciting them to mutiny against me! Now, you're going to pay..."

"No," answered Snooper. "It's you that's going to pay! So, you might as well put your hands up in the air!"

He gestured to the police squads, who pulled out their guns and pointed them at the Red Guy. But the Red Guy just chuckled and said, "You crack me up. You think taking me to jail, locking me up, and throwing away the key will solve your problem? I think not. Oh, robots!"

Two robots stepped forward. Pointing to Snooper, the Red Guy continued maliciously, "Take out that worthless feline private-eye!"

Jenny gasped in shock. Snooper tried to run, but the robots grabbed him and brought him over to the Red Guy. Snooper shouted, "You're not the boss of us toons! Will and Joe are the true bosses, and they have been so since--"

His speech was interrupted by the Red Guy grabbing his throat and squeezing it. The Red Guy muttered sternly, "You have to remember that as long as this zoo stands, I'm in charge. And if you and your chums have a problem with that, I will take pleasure in dipping all of you into a vat of 'The Dip'--courtesy of the late Judge Doom himself..."

A flash from Jenny's camera caught the Red Guy's attention. He shouted, "HEY! Which one of you worms snapped a picture?"

"It was me," Jenny answered, boldly holding up a photo of the Red Guy strangling Snooper. "And it's going to go into all the newspapers in the world. Once your devious plan is exposed, you have nowhere else to go to except prison!"

"Get rid of that photo, or I'll strip this kitty cat of all of his nine lives!"

"Okay. I'll get rid of it...by giving it to someone who has as much compassion for toons as we do."

She whistled. Almost instantly, the bright golden balls of light (that's Will Hanna and Joe Barbera, folks!) instantly appeared. The Red Guy stared in shock. Jenny contiued, talking to the light spirits, "Will, Joe...will you be so kind as to bring this photo to show to Mrs. Snooper?"

"Of course, Jen," said Will, taking the photo and floating away with Joe floating after his friend. The Red Guy ran after the two spirits, trying to reach out and grab the photo. But Will and Joe had already left the zoo, the photograph still in their possesion. Then, he turned to the girls and the toons, burning in anger. He murmurred, "Robots..."

"Yes, Boss?" the robots answered.

"TAKE THOSE FOOLS TO THE SEWER DUNGEON! AND THIS TIME, DO NOT LET THEM ESCAPE! I'll find a way to get rid of them tomorrow..."

The robots grabbed Erin, Jenny, Amanda, and their friends, and dragged them away. Jenny whispered to Erin, "Well, if we can't shut this zoo down, the power of the public will. I just asked Will and Joe to send the photograph to Mrs. Snooper."

"Cool," replied Erin. "Who's Mrs. Snooper, anyway?"

Snooper answered, "The one person who cares more about the toons of old rather than the newbies...me dear old mother."

"Your mom?!"

"Correct. Ma doesn't like it when I get tossed around and bullied a lot. The same for my friends, too. And, if she sees the evidence of the Red Guy choking me, she'll make him wish he was never born."


	11. Mutigen Ink

This is Chapter 11. Let's see if you can try to spot the reference to the PC game "Toonstruck" in this new chapter, folks. Enjoy.

DISCLAIMER: The characters Erin and Amanda belong to my friends, coopergal24 and DollGirl of DeviantArt. Jenny and Harriet Snooper (Snooper's mom) belong to me. The rest of the characters belong to Hanna-Barbera.

* * *

Before long, each and every toon, including Team Freedom, Sargent Flint and Officer Dibble, along with the human girls, were all thrown into the Sewer Dungeon, in speperate cells of course. And to make things more complicated, the Teams were stripped of anything that could be useful for an escape, the Falcon Gadgets, the Dyno Gizmos, even Hong Kong Phooey's Hong Kong Book of Kung Fu was taken and put into a box and left in the middle of the room. Then one of the robots tied Dyno-Mutt's robotic legs into a bow.

"You can't DO this to us!" Amanda shouted angrily.

""Oh, but I can, AND ALREADY HAVE!!!" Red shouted from the speakers. The robots turned and left, leaving all the toons to try and free themselves.

"Well, B.F., not my fault this time!" Dyno-Mutt said.

"No, Dog Wonder, but if ONLY we can reach for our equipment!" said Blue Falcon.

"Heck, I LOVE to give you a PAW, B.F., but I'm kinda TIED UP at the moment," replied Dog Wonder as he chuckled and laughed at his joke, which made everyone groan inwardly.

Try and try as they might, NO one could either get out of the cells, or even reach for the team's equipment.

Erin, Jen and Amanda grabbed the bars of the cage, but screamed in pain as they were suddenly electrocuted, sent flying to the ground and passed out.

"ERIN!" Huck cried out in panic.

Snooper and Ranger Smith stared at Jen and Amanda in HORROR, worried that they might be dead.

"Relax, their cells are the ONLY ones with my special ELECTRIC FENCING TECHNOLOGY! The rest of you are safe...for now." Red said cooly.

The toons just watched the passed-out girls in worry. Soon day turned into night, and already half the toons fell into an unfit sleep. Luckily, Ranger Smith managed to sneak some of the medicines in his pockets. He pulled them out and passed them out to his friends, Doggie especially, who took the medicine and gave it to Augie.

Soon, only Huck, Snooper, Yogi and Ranger Smith were awake as they watched Erin, Jen and Amanda, keeping a close eye on them. They even fought off their own sleep.

Meanwhile....

At the Snooper Family home, Harriet Snooper was busy getting ready for bed, until the two golden orbs came in. Harriet stared in shock until Joe dropped the picture on the floor. She cautiously bent down and picked it up. When she looked at it, she was both HORRIFIED and ANGRY! Didn't take her a second to RUN for the phone and called for help from EVERYBODY she knew.

Back at the Zoo, at midnight...

The four toons were still keeping watch over the humans, wondering how things couldn't POSSIBLY get ANY worse.

That was when the Red Guy came in, he was carrying three sterile needles, filled with what looked like some sort of liquid, the dark chromed red, blue and yellow swirled inside, looking like some sort of twisted milkshake concoction.

"What are you doing with THOSE?" Yogi asked with a hint of anger in his voice.

"You'll see, so BE QUIET!" Red sneered. He went to the girls just as they were waking up. He pulled out one of the needles and grabbed Erin's arm, sticking the needle in her and shooting the serum into her body, making her gag and choke back a scream. Red dropped her and proceeded to do the same thing two times to Jen and Amanda.

All the girls rubbed their arms painfully as they GLARED painfully at him.

"What the HECK did you DO to us?!" Amanda asked.

"Oh nothing...just gave you a shot, that's all...but with not just no ORDINARY shot!" Red said with an evil grin.

"What do you mean? What IS that STUFF?!" Amanda cried.

He smirked, holding up the needle with some leftover serum.

"This LOVELY concoction was a gift from my ol' pal, Nerfarious, of the Malevalands! A SPECIAL serum known as Mutigen Ink!! Any human that's been in contact with the stuff, becomes a TOON him or herself! And once you three little broads are toons..." Red stated.

Huck and Snooper PALED at the thought.

"...You'll be able to KILL them with the DIP!" Huck exclaimed.

"BINGO! You get a gold star, deaf-toned MUTT!" Red yelled sarcastically. "And when morning comes, your three little 'friends' will be toonified AND HELPLESS!"

He laughed as Huck GLARED dangerously at him, feeling something he NEVER felt before: Hate and EXTREME ANGER! He ran at the bars and suddenly GROWLED at the pantless man, taking swipes at him as he snarled dangerously. Snooper, Yogi and Ranger Smith just STARED at their friend in SHOCK!!

The pantless man just jumped back in shock before he shook it off.

"Bark ALL you want, Hound! You can't STOP the Mutigen Ink now, and the ONLY cure for it is hidden in the Administration Building, but I'm not telling you where!" The Red Guy laughed, he turned and kicked dust in Huck's face before he left, laughing like a madman as Huck coughed and wiped the dust from his face.

Erin, Amanda and Jen just stared in silent horror.

"Don't....don't worry, guys....Mrs. Snooper will be here...and she'll help us all out, along with help from her friends..." Amanda softly said.

The two girls and four toons looked at Amanda.

"How do you know?" asked Ranger Smith.

She looked at him, smiling in a soft, kind smile at him.

"Because...you should NEVER give up on hope...no matter how hard things are..." Amanda said, confident in her own strengths and beliefs.


	12. Harriet Comes To The Rescue

Oh, boy, here comes Chapter 12. It's Harriet Snooper to the rescue!

DISCLAIMER: The characters Erin and Amanda belong to my friends, coopergal24 and DollGirl of DeviantArt. Jenny and Harriet Snooper (Snooper's mom) belong to me. The rest of the characters belong to Hanna-Barbera.

* * *

Amanda was right. Outside the Zoo, gathered at the gate, was Harriet and all of her neighbors. And her neighbors' neighbors. And all the people in the town. Most of them were adults who had grown up watching their childhood toon idols on TV. Ever since she took one look at a picture of the Red Guy strangling her beloved son, Harriet knew that she had to take action immediately. First, she called all of her friends, young and old alike, to join her in a protest rally against cruelty to old-fashioned cartoon stars. Then she sent the photograph to be shown in newspapers and magazines. The news of the Zoo instantly spread across the nation--and eventually, the rest of the world--like wildfire.

"How could he do this to all those poor toons?" said one elderly woman from New York City. "The H-B toons were the best things to come to this world since I had seen the Tom and Jerry cartoons as a young girl."

"I'm terribly outraged!" said a man from London, England. "Whoever subjected the toons to such forms of cruelty has got to go! And so will those so-called 'new' cartoon stars of Cartoon Network who helped him in the first place!"

"I like Snagglepuss," said a little boy from Auckland, New Zealand. "I want to be an actor just like him when I grow up. I will never allow the Red Guy to treat him that way, won't I?"

Soon, the entire world was against the Red Guy and his zoo, all of them nostalgic fans of classic H-B toons. They stood outside the zoo, holding up picket signs with phrases like "Let Our Toons Go!", "Thanks For The Memories--No Thanks For The Pain", and "I Left My Heart In H-B Town (And Now I Found It)". Harriet, herself the leader of the enormous mob, stood waiting at the gate, waiting to give the Red Guy a piece of her mind for all the terrible things he had done to the toons--especially to Snooper.

Hearing the racket outside his office, the Red Guy mumbled, "Now what?" He went outside to investigate the orgin of the noise. And to his surprise he saw crowds of people gathered at the gate. Looking down at Harriet, he sneered, "Who are you, lady? And WHAT DO YOU WANT?"

"My name is Harriet Snooper," replied Harriet, holding up a photo of Super Snooper to his face. "I'm the mother of Super Snooper, the world's greatest private-eye. And I'm utterly and completely appalled at the acts of brutality you have done to my little boy and his friends."

"They're my exhibits for this marvelous zoo! What's wrong with it that you should come and STAND UP against ME?"

Harriet reached down into her purse and pulled out the photo that Will and Joe had showed her the night before. She continued, with angry tears, "There IS something wrong with not just the zoo, but the way you manage it! See this? That's pure evidence of your heartless attitude--you, choking my precious son to death with your bare red hands!"

"So what? He deserves to be punished like everybody else."

"NO! It's YOU who really deserves to be punished, Mr. Pantless! Your crimes against all toondom will give you no less than 100 years in prison!"

"Make _that_ 1,000 years!" one of the protesters commented. The rest of the protesters shouted in approval.

The Red Guy snarled, "Now, listen here, you furry old broad--the new cartoon stars of Cartoon Network hired ME to put the old toons away, and reel in the MONEY that they're making for the schedule AND for the appearances of the new toon stars that are taking their PLACES even as we speak!"

Harriet snapped back, "Oh, yeah? Then take a good look at what they in turn have done to the kids of this generation!"

She gestured to the kids in the crowd, who were crying and bawling their eyes out. One of them cried, "I don't wanna see Total Drama Island or 6teen or any of that junk! I only wanna see Yogi Bear!"

"Me, too!" said the other kids.

That sight made the Red Guy pale a bit and blush. He muttered nervously, "Well, uh...if there's anything I can do to...improve the working conditions..."

"The one thing you can only do," said Harriet. "Is to grant unlimited freedom to all the toons in the zoo, and shut it down this instant!"

The Red Guy stared at Harriet for a moment, before shouting reluctantly, "NO! NOT IN YOUR LIFETIME! My zoo WILL be open and STAY open for as long as the toons stay in their RESPECTIVE cells!"

Harriet fumed. She declared, "Well, if you're not going to free those toons, then I'll just have to do it myself!"

With that, she rushed forward and squeezed in through the gate. The Red Guy shouted through his walkie-talkie, "ROBOTS! GET THAT CRAZY OLD WOMAN!" The robots went out all at once to capture Harriet. But she was too quick for them--despite her old age, her legs were nimble and her mind was sharp. And she had amazing skills with her cane, which she used to knock the robots out of her way. She found refuge in the Administration Building, and hid in there until the robots gave up their search for her. She wandered in the room of the building, looking around. There was a large desk, with all the usual knick-knacks. Then she came across a photo of Eddy, with Ed and Double D. "Best Friends Forever", it said.

Harriet remembered Eddy--her son had introduced him to her during a party to celebrate the launch of his show. She had no idea he was the boss of the Zoo, long before the Red Guy took over his position. Harriet sighed. Will there ever be any hope for the toons?

"Harriet!"

Startled, Harriet looked about to find the source of the familiar wise-cracking voice. Where did it come from?

"Hey! I'm over here, right in that file cabinet!"

She went over to the bureau that was on the left side of the desk. When she got there, the voice continued, "Open one the drawers. You can find me under the letter 'E'." She did just that. To her surprise, a ghost popped out of the drawer, frightening her. Harriet stood there rooted in shock, looking up at the ghost floating up above her. She muttered, "Who...who are you?"

"Who am I?" said the ghost. "It's just me, Eddy."

"Eddy? You're still alive? But...what happened to you?"

"Hey, I'm a ghost now, remember? All the Red Guy just did was take my soul when I signed his phony-balony contract. 'Sign your name on this, and you can have all the money in the world,' he said. Some jerk he turned out to be."

"Eddy," said Harriet. "I can't believe what he just did to pull you into this mess. You've been scamming all the people in the cul-de-sac. And it looks like he did the same thing to you."

"Yeah. I thought I was gonna get rich with all that money he was offering me. But what I got instead was the pain of being forced to watch my old pals suffer from their fates. Now I don't care about being a con man any more."

He floated down to the ground, put his face in his hands, and began to cry. Harriet felt sorry for him. She said, "Get-rich-quick schemes won't get you on the road to fame and fortune. All the toons are in danger of death from starvation and hopelessness, and we have to do something in order to give them the freedom they've been longing for. Eddy, if there's one thing that I want to do in this whole wide world..."

"...then you can find the antedote."

Harriet gave Eddy a puzzled look. "What antedote?"

"I heard that the Red Guy," answered Eddy. "Used something called Mutigen Ink on three girls, turning them into toons. The cure for getting them back to normal should be in this office somewhere."

"And where can I be able to find it?" asked Harriet.

"In the place where you least expect it to be."

Harriet searched all the drawers of the desk--nothing. Then she looked in the cabinets--still nothing. She even looked into a fishbowl--it wasn't in there, either. The antedote was nowhere to be found, until she suddenly came across a large portrait of the Red Guy and looked behind it. There was a safe installed on the wall, and inside that safe...was the antedote itself! There it was, all of it cased inside a large hyperdermic needle, the liquid glowing a bright golden yellow.

"Eddy, I've found it!" Harriet exclaimed happily. "I've found the antedote!"

Suddenly, her ears perked up to hear the Red Guy's voice coming from down the halways: "Now, where did that mangy cat go? If I catch her in my office, I'll..."

"It's the Red Guy!" shouted Eddy. "Quick! Go to the Sewer Dungeon and set the girls and their friends free! Hurry, before he shows up!"

"But I don't know where it is."

Eddy groaned, picked Harriet up, and shoved her into an empty file drawer, which was used as the Red Guy's secret entrance to the Sewer Dungeon. He said, tossing the keys to her, "The secret entrance is in this file drawer. And here are the dungeon keys to help you."

"Thank you!"

Then he disappeared into thin air before the Red Guy came storming into the office. He looked around the room, scanning for any signs of Harriet hiding anywhere. But he did see the evidence of her presence in the room by the safe door being left open. "HEY! The antedote..IT'S GONE!"

Meanwhile, Harriet slid down a metal slide that led all the way down below to the Sewer Dungeon. After falling to the ground with a thump, she got up, dusted herself off, and headed for the wooden door. She muttered to herself as she opened it, "Well, that was it. Now to go and rescue my son."


	13. The Breakout, Version 1

Coopergal24 and DollGirl are helping me with two more chapters of the story--I give them my gratitude and thanks, and all credit goes to both of them. First up is Chapter 13, which is right here, and after that is Chapter 14. Let's see what happens from here...

DISCLAIMER: The characters Erin and Amanda belong to my friends, coopergal24 and DollGirl of DeviantArt. Jenny and Harriet Snooper (Snooper's mom) belong to me. The rest of the characters belong to Hanna-Barbera.

* * *

Amanda looked around her cage for a way out. One thing her military training taught her to do was to ALWAYS find a way out of enemy camps if a prisoner. She looked around at everyone else there. Yogi in his emaciated state. You could see the bones beneath the matted fur. Sick little Augie and his worried father…

She had to do something for her newfound friends. All of her life she had looked in the mirror and wondered if she was ever really brave enough. How would she have handled Iraq if she went over?

The ominous footsteps returned and Red Guy came in with a gun that looked like an M-16 rifle with a bottle attached that had the green DIP in it. Red Guy grinned wickedly. "Now which one first…"

Amanda went up to the bars. "Red Guy, I want to make a deal with you. If you let them go I'll be your slave for the rest of my life."

"Amanda, no!" Erin shouted, horrified.

"Don't!" Jenny shouted.

Amanda ignored them and kept eye contact with Red Guy. He looked as if considering it before smirking. "Nice try, Girlie! In fact you'll be the FIRST to go!"

He aimed the rifle and fired. Amanda dodged the blast and grabbed the nose of the rifle before shoving it against his face making him let go. She pulled it into her own cage and aimed it at him. "I'm warning you…"

Red Guy glared. "You don't know how to fire that a gun!"

"Actually, I WAS an Airman Red Guy! And THIS was the type of gun I was TRAINED to use!"

"DO you REALLY want to risk hitting one of the other toons?" he sneered.

Amanda stilled and looked at the gun. "No, I don't." She took the bottle off. It was time to be the hero for a change. One life in exchange for the others. She took it off and dropped the gun to the floor. She brought it to her lips and among screams and yells of horror she drank it. The foul taste burned her throat and she could feel the poison doing it's job.

She gagged and fell to her hands and knees coughing. Red Guy laughed at her pain as he went in and stood beside her. He kicked her stomach making her collapse to the ground. "One little broad down…too bad that's the only bottle I have."

She looked at the bottle. There was a tiny bit left. With the last of her strength she splashed the rest on him before her world went dark and she could feel nothing any longer.

Red Guy SCREAMED as he was hit with the DIP. It burned through and melted the villain until all that was left was his clothes.

Every toon stared at the puddle of what used to be the Red Guy...Except for Ranger Smith, Erin and Jen, they were staring at Amanda. The one who had enough courage and strength to sacrifice her whole life for her friends, to drink the bottle of DIP for the ones she cared....

Tears fell down both girls' faces as they stared at their fallen friend, crying silently. The toons bowed thier heads and mourned in silence, Yogi took his hat off and let his tears fall down his furry face while BooBoo and Cindy were hugging him, crying in grief. But Ranger John Smith....he took it the hardest as he just bowed his head and sobbed silently, his body shook in grief, realizing his true feelings for Amanda.

The golden orbs of Will and Joe flew into the sewer dungeon and stopped in the middle, they both glowed a bit, making the cell bars glow a bit before they disintergrated into ashes. Dyno-Mutt's legs were untied as Blue Falcon, Hong Kong Phooey, Officer Dibble and Sargent Flint went to the box and retrieved their guns, gadgets, whatever.

John quickly ran over to Amanda's side and gently held her, shaking her a bit. "Amanda...? Please, wake up...." He softly said to her. But she didn't... Erin and Jen crawled over to them and cried softly.

"No...Amanda can't be..." Erin said, choking back a soft sob.

The members of Team Freedom bowed thier heads in mourning.

"If ONLY there was a way to help..." Blue Falcon said.

"There IS, but it's KINDA corny..." Will's voice spoke, just as the two orbs once again turned back into thier human/spirit forms.

Everyone looked up at them, John especially in hope.

"Ho-how?" He asked.

Joe and Will smiled a bit.

"With a kiss from Amanda's crush." Joe said.

Everyone stared at them...Except Erin and Jen, who looked at John. Everyone else saw their looks and looked at John as well. John noticed he was being watched before he looked at everyone.

"Me?! But...I'm nothing special..." He stated.

"Yo-you're special to Amanda, Ranger Smith. She likes you because you're you." Erin said, knowing a lot about her friend.

John looked at her as Jen nodded.

"Wouldn't hurt to try, Mr. Ranger Sir." Yogi said.

BooBoo and Cindy nodded in agreement.

John sighed before looking back at Amanda.

"Worth a try..." He asked. Inwardly, he HOPED it worked. He DID have a crush on Amanda, since he first saw her enter the Gift Emporium with Yogi, Cindy and BooBoo. He took a deep breath and leaned forward, kissing Amanda fully on her lips.

Everyone watched hopefully. The ranger pulled back and watched Amanda. Suddenly, the color on Amanda's pale faced returned before she took a small breath of air and opened her eyes a bit, looking up at the ranger and blushed a bit.

Both Erin and Jen smiled tearfully as everyone cheered. John helped Amanda up to her knees before they both hugged each other.

"Heh, the old 'True love's first kiss' huh?" Amanda whispered.

The good ranger blushed with a smile as he nodded. "Yeah...Sorry about that." He whispered back.

She shook her head with a blush and a soft smile. "Don't be...Thanks for the rescue..." Amanda said.

John blushed HARDER as they pulled back and looked at each other, lovingly of course....Before Amanda was tackled in a happy group hug by Erin and Jen, who were both crying happy tears. "Thought you DIED!!" Jen said.

Amanda giggled wetly. "Thought so too, until I was awakened." She said, smiling.

"Yeah, well....PLEASE don't EVER do that AGAIN, or you're in BIG trouble!" Erin remarked. Amanda just chuckled sheepishly with a grin.

Yogi ran over and picked Amanda up in a gentle bear hug.

"Hey, hey, hey! You saved the day! Don't know HOW to repay you though..." Yogi said. Amanda just waved her hand.

"Just knowing you and all your friends are safe is reward enough for me and my friends, Yogi." answered Amanda as she hugged him back.

Will and Joe just smiled at the scene, just as Harriet Snooper came running into the dungeon.


	14. The Breakout, Version 2

Here's Chapter 14, which coopergal24 and DollGirl did for me. But this time, the whole story behind the escape is different...

DISCLAIMER: The characters Erin and Amanda belong to my friends, coopergal24 and DollGirl of DeviantArt. Jenny and Harriet Snooper (Snooper's mom) belong to me. The rest of the characters belong to Hanna-Barbera.

* * *

Erin looked at Amanda and Ranger Smith. They seemed so secretly in love, even in the darkest moment. Same goes for Jen and Snooper, who were holding hands and offering each other comfort. Erin sighed as she looked over at Huck, who had calmed his anger down to a minamun, but was still very ticked off at what the Red Guy did.

Huck looked over at Erin, both got each other's gaze and turned RED in the face! Erin swallowed a lump in her throat as she crawled over to Huck, who started to crawl to the cell bars. They both looked at each other, finding a newfound and strange feeling for each other...Love.

"Huck...If we DON'T make it...There's something...I always wanted to tell you..." Erin said. "What is it?" Huck asked, as he leaned slowly towards her face, blushing. Erin blushed softly as well as she too leaned slowly towards Huck. "I...I just...Wanna say..." She spoke. "Yeah?" Huck whispered. "That I...I...I lo-..." Erin's soft words were stopped as Huck put his finger over her lips, in a hushing motion. He smiled softly at her.

"I know..." He whispered. He pulled his finger away before he cupped her cheek. Erin smiled softly with a scarlet blush. They leaned their faces close and was about to kiss each other, until suddenly...

The ominous footsteps returned and Red Guy came in with a gun that looked like an M-16 rifle with a bottle attached that had the green DIP in it. The Red Guy grinned wickedly. "Now which one first…"

Huck and Erin looked up as Ranger Smith and Snooper held Amanda and Jen in a protective hug. Erin narrowed her eyes at the Red Guy in anger. He was NOTHING but a troublesome bully, threatening the VERY lives of not just her friends, but her true love as well. All her life, people have pushed her around, giving her orders as if she was a robot. All her life she wanted to make a difference, to take a stand. She clentched her hands tight as she did what her heart told her...

She got up and ran at the pantless devil, grabbing the barrel of the gun and pointed down to the ground. "You hurt MY best friends, and I'll KILL you!" She screamed. The Red Guy laughed evilly. "And what can YOU do? You CAN'T use a GUN!"

She GLARED at him. "Not a REAL gun, but I've used a BB Gun, BUSTER! And my aim's pretty darn GOOD!"

He sneered evilly. "Go ahead and try, but do you REALLY want to hit your FRIENDS?!" Erin glared HARDER, keeping the gun pointed down. She glanced at the bottled of DIP as an idea hit her. "No..." she said. She quickly grabbed the bottle and yanked it off the gun before she jumped back away from him. "But I WILL stop YOU...!" Erin cried. She looked at the bottle and brought it to her lips, drinking the dangerous concoction as both Amanda, Jen and every other toon yelled, telling her to stop.

Erin could taste the coppery and bitter alcoholy venom run down her throat before she stopped. She started to gag and cough, falling on her one knee as she grabbed her throat. The Red Guy sneered, but smiled evilly. "Only bottle I have, but at least I've gotten rid of the LOUD MOUTH!" He laughed evilly as Erin looked at the bottle in her hand weakly.

Only a bit of DIP left. She glared weakly at Red and used her last bit of energy to splash the rest of the DIP on him. After that, she fell to the ground, the bottle rolling out of her hand as she closed her dulling eyes for the last time.

The Red Guy SCREAMED in pain and agony as the DIP melted him like a chocolate bar. "OH, what a world, what a WORLD! A HANDSOME guy like me, DEFEATED by a MERE HUMAN gone TOON! I'm MELTING! MELTING!!!! Oh I'm MELTING, Ma!!!" He yelled through the pain. His groans and moans got quieter and quieter, until he was nothing but a bubbling puddle of red color, as his two eye balls sunk under the goop.

Just as Red Guy was melted and gone. all the cage doors glowed a yellowish color and flew open. Amanda and Jen dashed over to their fallen friend and desperately tried to wake her up...to no avail.

Yogi looked over at Huck and saw the hound's eyes glaze over with tears. He went over and put a paw on his shoulder. "Huck..."

Huck yanked his shoulder out from under the bear's paw as he shook with grief. He had never met a girl like Erin before...so brave and kind... loving and good. She had given him the strength to fight and live once more. Now...now he wished he'd grabbed the gun...swallowed the DIP.

His stubborn bear friend refused to let him run off. Yogi was a lot more perceptive than most gave him credit for. He knew how Huck felt. The blue hound shakingly walked over to Erin and knelt by her. Amanda looked at him. "Huck, sh-she loved you...always did since she was a l-little girl..."

"Why? I'm just a...a..."

Amanda wiped her eyes and sniffed. "The one person she could always count on." Jen sniffed and nodded as well. Huck looked at Erin. Tearfully, sadly, he leaned down and kissed her on the lips. His tears fell off of his furry cheeks and landed on her face and neck.

The tears glowed a pure white color and her whole body glowed. Huck pulled back and everyone stared in shock and hope.

Amanda's eyes widened. "Love's first kiss…" she whispered. As cliché as it was, she knew that THIS was what Erin would want. Sure enough, the light faded and her skin was no longer pale. Her eyes opened, she looked at Huck. "Did we win?" she asked quietly. He smiled tearfully. "Yes...we're free, thanks to you. Erin...I love you." She blushed shyly. "I love you, too."

Among the cheers of joy they kissed again more passionate and loving this time. Yogi, being the smart aleck he was, simply HAD to say something. "Hey Hey Hey, Huck! Come up for air, will ya!"

Everyone laughed and the tension melted away faster than Red Guy did.


	15. The Breakout, Version 3

Yet another aternate chapter, from my character's point of view.

DISCLAIMER: The characters Erin and Amanda belong to my friends, coopergal24 and DollGirl of DeviantArt. Jenny and Harriet Snooper (Snooper's mom) belong to me. The rest of the characters belong to Hanna-Barbera.

* * *

Jenny peeked out of her cell and looked around at all her friends. She was saddened at the thought that they were going to share the same fate as hers. Then she looked at Snooper. She started thinking about him. Super Snooper, her childhood idol, her best friend...and the light of her life. Of course, Jenny didn't want to lose him, either--there had to be a way of helping her friends before the Red Guy returns to spell out their doom.

"Snoop," she whispered. "I don't know if you're going to believe this...but did you know that I love you?"

Snooper looked up at Jen, a surprised look on his face. He said, "What do you mean?"

"It's true...I've loved you as a little girl...you never ceased to win me over with your sharp wit, as well as your constant silliness. You may not be the greatest private-eye in the world, but all I know is that...that..." She hesitated. Snooper went over to the cell bars and held out his paw for her to grab. She took that paw and squeezed it gently. Snooper whispered, "I understand now, Jen. And I want you to know that I love you, too. I would never know what I'd do without you..."

Jenny looked up at him. Her brown eyes gazed into his gleaming black eyes. She smiled. And he smiled back. Jenny whispered, "I will always love you." But then...

The ominous footsteps returned and the Red Guy came in with a gun that looked like an M-16 rifle with a bottle attached that had the green DIP in it. The Red Guy grinned wickedly. "Now which one first…"

"Oh, no," Jenny muttered fearfully. She looked at her friends. Huck and Erin backed away, holding each other close. Amanda and Ranger Smith held each other's hands, while they shook in fear. Jen, too, was afraid of the Red Guy. But then she realized that she had no reason to be afraid of him. She remembered her past experiences with bullies like him. As a young girl, she had been physically and emotionally abused by her stepfather. Then, she was beat up and bossed around by the tough and mean kids at school. Now, almost fully grown, she recalled one simple lesson that had been lodged in her mind all along: "Don't get weak. Get even." With that in mind, she ran up to the bars of her cell and grabbed the gun the Red Guy was holding.

"Listen here, Mr. Pantless!" said Jenny, glaring at him. "If you're going to hurt my friends, you'll have to go through me first!"

The Red Guy laughed. He sneered, "And just HOW are you gonna do THAT? You don't even know HOW to use this gun!"

"Of course, I've never worked a gun before. But I _do_ know a way to defeat you!" She snatched the gun away from him and pointed it at him. The Red Guy just smirked. "I dare you to try it, YOUNG LADY! But you will soon realize that instead of me, it will hit any one of your buddies--especially him..." He pointed to Snooper, who shrunk back in fear. Jenny growled. What makes him think she would hurt her boyfriend? With determination in her heart, she took the bottle off of the gun and brought it to her lips to drink the poisonous liquid, despite yells from her friends.

The bitter taste of the DIP was now in her mouth, and as she swallowed the liquid it burned her throat. She gagged and coughed, falling on her knees and grabbing her throat. The Red Guy smiled evilly. He said, "Humph, the last bottle of DIP left. At least it was enough to finish off that weakling of a Super Snooper fan!" And he laughed again.

Then, Jenny looked at the bottle in her hand. There was only a little bit of the liquid left. This was going to be her big chance for redemption for her friends. And so, with the last of her strength, she splashed the DIP on the Red Guy. The crimson devil screamed and groaned in agony, until all that was left of him was a boiling red puddle. After that, Jenny fell to the ground and let go of the empty bottle.

All at once, the bars of all the cells glowed a bright golden color, before melting. Erin, Amanda, and the toons ran out to check on Jenny. It was too late--Jenny was already gone. Snooper kneeled next to her and picked up her hand to feel her pulse. There was none. He muttered sadly, "Jen...oh, no..."

Blabber went over to Snooper. He asked, "Snoop, what's wrong?"

"Jenny's gone, Blab," answered Snooper, wiping a tear from his eye. "That's what." He held her body close to his and started to weep. Erin and Amanda wept for their best friend. The other toons wept as well. Then, he remembered something--in the old fairy tale called Snow White, the prince kisses the princess to wake her up. It was a power known only as a "true love's first kiss". He decided to try it. Slowly and carefully, he lifted Jenny's face to his and gently kissed her on the lips, before waiting to see what would happen.

Almost instantly, the color on Jenny's face was no longer pale and she started to open her eyes. When she looked up at Snooper, she smiled weakly and whispered, "Snoop..."

"JENNY!" the cat cried out joyfully, as he hugged her. Everybody cheered. Dyno-Mutt said, "Jen, you're alive! For a moment there, we thought you'd never come back!"

"I did," said Jenny with a nod. "I really did. And now I'm here to stay."

Erin hugged her, saying, "We're glad to have you back, Jen."

Jenny smiled and hugged back. Thanks to her underlying bravery, she has indeed saved the lives of all of her friends. Including Snooper.


	16. Free At Last!

Okay, two more chapters to go and this story is finished! Whoo-hoo!

DISCLAIMER: The characters Erin and Amanda belong to my friends, coopergal24 and DollGirl of DeviantArt. Jenny and Harriet Snooper (Snooper's mom) belong to me. The rest of the characters belong to Hanna-Barbera.

* * *

Harriet unlocked the door to the Sewer Dungeon and opened it, only to find that Erin, Jenny, Amanda, and their friends were already free. It was not known what took her so long to get there, but it was probably the winding maze-like paths and many doors that caused her to get lost before she finally found the entrance.

"I'm here!" she shouted. "Is everyone all right?"

Snooper looked up and noticed Harriet. He said happily, "Ma! You're here! You should've seen what she did to the Red Guy!" He pointed to what remained of Mr. Pantless, which was now a big red puddle on the stony floor. Harriet, seeing the mess, shook her head and clucked her tongue. She muttered, "Oh, dear, what a mess...I guess I should clean it up..." With that, she took a mop and a bucket of water (which were standing against a wall) and cleaned it all up. After she was done, she continued, "So, as I was saying...is everybody okay?"

"Yep," replied Erin. "We're fine."

"And that infernal zookeeper..."

"He's a goner," said Jenny with a wink.

Harriet smiled. "I guess maybe all that protesting against cruelty to toons really paid off after all," she thought. Then she said, gathering the girls and the toons together, "Well, now that our job of ridding the zoo of the red menace, I think it's time we all went home and celebrate our long-strived-for victory..."

Erin, Jenny, Amanda, Huck, Snooper, Blabber, Ranger Smith, Yogi, Cindy, Boo Boo, Hong Kong, Blue Falcon, Dyno-Mutt, and all the rest of the toons followed Harriet out of the dungeon and eventually out of the zoo. Approaching the waiting crowd, Harriet exclaimed triumphantly, "Ladies and gentlemen, due to the passing of our much-hated enemy, I now declare all toons to be free and this cursed zoo permanently closed!"

The mob cheered. Erin, Jenny, and Amanda smiled. The Red Guy is dead, the toons are finally free, and the Zoo will be gone for good. But now that the toons are free, where on earth could they continue their carefree and zany lifestyles?

"Hey," said Erin. "I know where the newly freed toons can live now that the Zoo is closed."

"Really?" asked Jenny. "Where?"

"In the one place where I know they'll live and work in forever..."

Jenny gasped in shock. She knew exactly what her friend meant. "You...mean...?"

"Hollywood!"

Hollywood, the entertainment capital of the world, was definitely the place for the toons. Erin, Jenny, and Amanda began to fantasize about the many things they can do with their friends in the city of Hollywood. They would live in beautiful mansions. The toons would have their old jobs back. And best of all, the girls would settle down with their sweethearts and raise families of their own.

Of course, their good luck would soon change for the best. Watching the tearful reunion between the H-B toons and their loyal fans, the producers at Cartoon Network felt the need to reform themselves, after having had received countless negative reviews about their programming. They said, "You know what? I think the people are right--Cartoon Network _is_ the place for classic cartoons. Come on, let's go and welcome our old pals back in the game..."

And up above in Heaven, Will Hanna and Joe Barbera looked down at the happy throng gathering outside the Zoo. Standing next to them was Eddy himself--now that the Red Guy was dead and the contract was void, he finally got the chance to cross over to a better place. And it was the first wisest decision he had ever made.

"Well done, Eddy," said Will. "You've finally managed to get someone to help you get the load off your shoulders by rescuing the toons and shutting down the zoo. I'm sure your memory will forever linger in the hearts of every devoted classic cartoon fan."

"Yeah, I know," replied Eddy, smiling proudly. "Thanks."

Joe said, "And of course, your plan in saving the toons would not be possible if it weren't for those three brave girls. They've been true cartoon fans since they were very little, and believe it or not, they still are. And as long as they live, their hard work, their unbroken spirits, and their unlimited love for their toon friends will never fade away."


	17. A Happy Ending After All

Well, folks, this is it--the last and final chapter. I'll be working on the sequel to the story real soon.

DISCLAIMER: The characters Erin and Amanda belong to my friends, coopergal24 and DollGirl of DeviantArt. Jenny and Harriet Snooper (Snooper's mom) belong to me. The rest of the characters belong to Hanna-Barbera.

* * *

Once the Zoo was finally demolished, the H-B toons were relocated to Hollywood. There they were welcomed back by the producers of Cartoon Network, and were given a contract to permanently stay in the acting business. The good old days of Cartoon Network were back in its splendor once again. And the toons got their cheery lifestyles back as well--they continued to do the various fun things they did a long time ago.

Yappee, Touche Turtle, Dum-Dum, Dick Dastardly, and the other toons who had already perished during their confinement in the zoo were brought back to life (thanks to Will and Joe), and they also got their old jobs back. It was a happy moment for all the H-B toons, who relished in their newfound glory as easily as if it were an endless supply of cream pies.

As for Erin, Jenny, and Amanda, their fates were much more happier than the toons' had been. Now that they were declared to be heroes of the liberation of H-B toons, the girls, along with their respective sweethearts, were happily and joyfully married. Erin and Huck. Amanda and Ranger John Smith. And Jenny and Snooper, too. They all lived together in Hollywood with their friends, striving to make sure that, as long as they live, the toons will always remain free. And that, of course, was another dream come true.

THE END!


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